Fox Takes French Crime Drama 'Braquo' for U.K., Italy

Fox has snapped up gritty French crime drama Braquo for its pay TV channels in the U.K. and Italy, with joint venture Foxtel taking the third season of Braquo for Australia.

Zodiak Rights lined up a series of new deals for the show, which premieres its third season on French pay TV network Canal Plus Feb. 10, with broadcasters in Brazil (Globosat), Israel (Hot) and New Zealand (Rialto) among the many buyers.

Braquo, winner of the International Emmy for best drama series in 2012, follows a squad of Parisian cops who bend (and break) the rules to do their jobs. The third season, in which the squad confronts the city's Russian mafia, is written by Abdel Raouf Dafri, who penned the script to Jacques Audiard's Oscar-nominated A Prophet (2009). Jean-Hugues Anglade (Nikita), Joseph Malerba (Marie Antoinette) and Polisse actors Karole Rocher and Nicolas Duvauchelle star. The first two seasons of Braquo were shown in the U.S. on Hulu.

Zodiak, which holds worldwide distribution rights to the show, has sold Braquo to 90 territories, earning it the TVF1 export prize in 2011, which honors the best-selling French program abroad.